Protector mechanism for looms



Patented Dec. 2, 1941 HE STA PROTECTOR MECHANISM FOR LooMs ApplicationFebruary 17, 1941, Serial No. 379,222

14 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in protector mechanisms for loomsand it is the general object of the invention to provide a mechanismmore particularly adaptable for use on Wide looms such as are used forweaving paper makers felts.

It has been customary heretofore to Weld the daggers on the protectorrod but when such a practice is employed repairs necessitate the removalof the protector rod and its bearings from the lay. It is an importantobject of ourpresent invention to provide daggers which are formedseparately from the protector rod but held to it in adjusted positionfor cooperation with the knock-off and bunter mechanisms.

When protector rods of considerable length are used it is customary tohave several daggers between the end daggers which are located near theloomsides, and it is also usual to make the rod in several sections heldtogether by couplings. When the shuttle boxes are at one side of theloom the actuating force for rocking the rod and the daggers comes fromthat end and any twist in the long rod caused by the inertia of theintermediate daggers and the couplings may prevent the daggers near thecenter of the loom, and those at the remote end, from being depressedquickly enough to avoid entry into their bunters. It is an importantobject of this invention to provide a light one piece rod Without theusual couplings and relatively free from objectionable twist.

Another feature of our invention is to provide means for setting thedaggers at different angular positions with respect to the rod so thateach dagger can be set for proper engagement with its hunter regardlessof slight variations in the heights of the several bunters.

It has been customary heretofore to transmit all of the stopping forcefor the lay through the protector rod, but this mode of operation,especially on long looms, is likely to bend the rod, and furthermore,because of the weight of the longer lay, the rod is subjected toconsiderable strain. It is a further object of our present invention soto construct the daggers which are mounted on the protector rod that thelay stopping force will be transmitted from the lay to the huntersdirectly through the daggers without requiring the rod to transmit allof the stopping force. In carrying this feature of our invention intoeffect we locate each dagger slightly in front of a force transmittingplate on the lay and between the rod bearings so that at the time ,ofprotection the rod bends slightly to permit the dagger to have directengagement with the plates. In this way the protector rod is spared allbut a small amount of the force required to stop the lay. 7

With these and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, our invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein convenient embodiments of ourinvention are illustrated in connection with two forms of daggers.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of part of the lay of a wide loom showingthe preferred form of our improved protector mechanism applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 22 of Fig. 1 showing the protectorrod and the parts carried thereby in two difierent positions,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail longitudinal section on line 33 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section on line 6-4 of Fig. 1 showingthe parts in the position they assume when a dagger engages its bunterlever at the beginning of a knocking ofi or stopping operation of theloom, the bunter lever and associated parts in this figure being omittedfrom Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but indicating a slight motion of thedagger relatively to the lay to effect positive engagement of the daggerwith the previously mentioned force transmitting plate on the lay,

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on line 6-E of Fig. 4,

Fig. '7 is a diagrammatic plan View showing several daggers andassociated parts, and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to a portion of Fig. 4 but showing a modifiedform of dagger.

Referring to the drawing, the loom lay it is provided at its right andleft ends with shifting shuttle boxes II and i2, respectively, which maybe operated by any mechanism not shown to place any one of severalWeaving shuttles in active position. Each shuttle box has a binder itwhich will be in rear position with respect to the lay when theassociated shuttle box is empty but which will be moved forwardly whena, shuttle enters the shuttle box. The protector rod l5 has each endthereof tapered, as at It, see Fig. 3, to receive a correspondinglytapered hub ll of a protector finger i8, which extends upwardly toengage the binder I3 of the actively placed shuttle box. A nut IS on athreaded extension 20 of the protector rod serves to hold the protectorfinger tightly in fixed position on the protector rod. A torsion coilspring 2| having one end thereof engaging the hub H and the other endfixed with respect to the lay acts to move the protector finger towardthe binder and tends to rotate the rod in a left hand direction asviewed in Fig. 4. Each end of the protector rod will have one of thefingers I8 and both of the actively placed shuttle boxes must be emptyto permit these fingers to move rearwardly.

The lay may be reciprocated backwardly and forwardly by means ofconnectors one of which is shown at in Fig. 2 so that the lay movestoward and from a breast beam 26. Each end of the latter is providedwith a hunter lever 21 which is normally held rearwardly by a springplunger 28 the stem 29 of which extends rearwardly through a housing 30fixed with respect to the breast beam and surrounded by a compressionspring 3| which offers considerable resistance to forward motion of theplunger 28.

The hunter levers are located in front of the S and S shown in Fig. 2being picked across the loom to enter one or another of the shuttleboxes and move the corresponding binders forwardly to move the protectorfinger l8 forwardly and rock the protector rod in a clockwise directionfrom the full to the dotted line position shown in Fig, 2. For a furtherdescription of the construction and operation of certain of the partsalready mentioned reference may be had to the following patents:Lundgren, 1,872,994, and McGuiness, 1,029,937.

In carrying our present invention into effect we provide the forwardpart of the lay with a plurality of spaced bearings 40 each having amain plate 4i bolted as at 42 to the lay and having formed therewith ahub 43 in which the protector rod rotates freely. Extending to one sideof each of the bearing members is a lateral extension or forcetransmitting plate 45 which has close contact with the front wall 46 ofthe wooden part 41 of the lay. These bearings are readily detachablefrom the lay by removal of the bolts 42.

Located at spaced intervals along the protector rod are the daggers thepreferred form of which is indicated at 50 in Fig. 4. These daggers eachcomprise an enlarged body 5| through which th protector rod extends anda reduced front pointed knock-off end 52 positioned for engagement withthe associated bunter. As shown in Fig. 4 each-dagger 5D has extendingvertically therethrough a locking bolt 55 having an armate recess 56 cuttherein to fit around a portion of the protector rod 15. A tighteningnut 5'! and a lock nut 58 are provided for each of the lock bolts 55 todraw the latter upwardly to establish a tight holding connection betweenthe dagger and the protector rod. By loosening the nuts 51 and 58 theangular position of the dagger may be changed with respect to theprotector rod.

An important feature of our present invention resides in theconstruction of the rear part of each dagger, which, as shown in Fig. 5,is provided with an upwardly extending abutment having a substantiallyvertical face 60 extending to a point above the protector rod andlocated close to but normally slightly in front of the forward face ofthe corresponding lateral extension or plate 45 therebehind.

In the modified form shown in Fig, 8 the dagger has a forward end 66 forengagement with its hunter and has the rear end split as at 61 to permitclamping by a bolt 68 on the protector rod I5.

In setting the daggers the lay will be moved forwardly to cause theseveral daggers to engage their bunters and bunter levers 27 when theshuttle boxes in line with the shuttle path are empty. In thisconnection it should be remembered that in wide looms it is a matter ofpractical manufacturing difficulty to have all of the bunters at exactlythe same vertical level and this is one reason for having the daggersangularly adjustable on the protector rod. The nuts 51 and 58 are thentightened to hold the daggers fixed to the protector rod in theirseveral positions. The daggers will then be set to stop the loom unlessa shuttle enters an actively placed shuttle box. When a shuttle isboxed, however, the daggers will be moved downwardly out of stoppingposition and the lay will continue to move forwardly. A similar settingis effegted when the modified form of dagger is use Should the shuttlefail to be boxed properly the daggers will remain in their high positionand as the lay moves forwardly they will engage the bunters and cause aslight bending of the protector rod between the bearings sufficient tocause engagement between the surfaces 60 of the daggers and the plates45, after which the protector rod will not be subjected to any furtherbending and the whole force of stopping the lay will be transmitted fromthe extensions 35 through the upper part of the daggers along a lineabove the protector rod to the hunters. The normal gap between thesurface 60 on the back of the protector daggers and the plates 45 issmall so that a very slight bending of the protector rod will suflice tocause the engagement mentioned. Furthermore, the daggers are spacedsuificiently from the bearings 40 to permit this bending of the rod. Byrelieving the protector rod of the necessity for transmitting all of thestopping force necessary to arrest the lay we avoid those strains whichmight disturb the setting of the daggers on the protector rod and alsobend the latter.

Heretofore, it has been customary either to weld the daggers to a singlerod or make the rod in sections which are held together by couplings.Because of the slight variations of the heights of the hunters acrossthe loom it was necessary to adjust each dagger and its bunter by atwisting operation when the daggers were welded to the rod and correctalignment was difficult to attain. When the sections of the rod wereheld together by couplings on the other hand it was found that thecoupling nearest the box into which the shuttle passes was required totransmit all of the strain for moving the remaining sections extendingto the opposite side. As a result of the repeated turnings of the endsections their couplings became loosened and the original alignment ofthe daggers was lost. Under these conditions the intermediate daggerswere relatively high and would strike their bunters even though the enddaggers were depressed to non-stopping position and a bending of the layand also the breast beam of the loom resulted even though the activeshuttle entered its'box. In our present invention we have eliminated thecouplings by using a single rod and have also provided for adjusting thedaggers without twisting the rod as is the case when daggers are welded.

Should damag occur to any dagger the bearings 40 and the other daggersbetween it and the nearer end of the loom can be removed after which thedamaged dagger is slid endwise ofi the rod without taking the latterfrom the lay. This latter operation of course is not possible where thedaggers are welded to the protector rod.

Fromthe foregoing it will be seen that we have provided a simple form ofprotector rod wherein the daggers are individually adjustable on asingle protector rod extending across the lay and that the daggers arelocated between and spaced from the protector rod bearings sufficientlyto permit a slight forward bending of the rod such as will causeengagement between the surface 60 of the daggers and the extensions 45.The dagger is so constructed that a comparatively small part of thetotal force required to stop the lay will be transmitted to theprotector rod, the major part of the stopping force being absorbed bythe plates 35. It will also be noted that the stopping force istransmitted through the dagger along a line above the protector rod.Furthermore, the individually adjustable daggers simplify theiralignment with the hunters with which they cooperate even though thelatter because of manufacturing conditions are not always of the samelevel.

Having thus described our invention it will be seen that changes andmodifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention and we do not wishto be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what we claim is:

1. In a protector mechanism for a loom having a lay and a lay stoppingbunter, a protector rod extending along and rotatabl with respect to thelay, a dagger mounted on the rod and through which the latter passes,the dagger having a front end to engage the bunter, means on the lay forengagement with and normally spaced from the rear end or" the daggerbehind the rod, and means to mount the rod on the lay for slight bendingof that part of the rod adjacent to the dagger, the dagger when engagingth bunter bending the rod and engaging the means to transmit a stoppingforce from the lay through the means and dagger to the bunter and saidmeans preventing further bending of the rod by the bunter.

2. In protector mechanism for a loom having a lay and a lay stoppingbunter, a protector rod extending along and rotatable with respect tothe lay, a dagger mounted on the rod and through which the latterpasses, the dagger having a front end to engage the bunter, means on thelay for engagement with and normally spaced from the rear end of thedagger behind the rod, and means to mount the rod on the lay for slightbending of that part of the rod adjacent to the dagger being so relatedto the bunter, the rod and the means that, the dagger when engaging thebunter said dagger will bend the rod and engage the means to transmit astopping force from the lay through the means and dagger to the bunteralong a line passing to one side of the rod, and said means preventingfurther bending of the rod by the hunter.

3. In protector mechanism for a loom having a lay and a lay stoppingbunter, a protector rod extending along and rotatable with respect tothe lay, a dagger mounted on the rod and through which the latterpasses, the dagger having a front end to engage the bunter, means on thlay for engagement with and normally spaced from the rear end of thedagger behind the rod, and means to mount the rod on the lay for slightbending of that part of the rod adjacent to the dagger, the daggerhaving a part above the rod to engage said means, th dagger whenengaging the hunter bending the rod and engaging the means above the rodto transmit a stopping force from the lay through the means and daggerto the hunter along a line above the rod, and said means preventingfurther bending of the rod by the bunter.

a. In protector mechanism for a loom having a lay and a breast beamprovided with a series of lay stopping bunters spaced therealong, a protecto-r rod extending along and rotatable on the lay, a series ofbearings on the lay for the rod and staggered with respect to thebunters relatively to the length of the lay and breast beam, daggers onthe protector rod, one aligning with and for engagement with each of thebunters, each dagger having an abutting portion thereof projectingbeyond that side of the rod opposite the corresponding bunter, and meanson the lay for engagement with and normally spaced from said abuttingportions, the daggers when engaging the bunters causing bending of theadjacent parts of the rod between the bearings and cansing said abuttingportions to engage said means to prevent further bending of the rod andarresting motion of the lay by forces transmitted from the lay throughsaid means to the daggers and bunters independently of the rod.

5. In protector mechanism for a loom having a lay and a breast beamprovided with a series of lay stopping bunters spaced therealong, aprotector rod extending along and rotatable on the lay, a series ofbearings on the lay for the rod and staggered with respect to thebunters relatively to the length of the lay and breast beam, daggers onthe protector rod, one aligning with and for engagement with each of thebunters, each dagger having an abutment above the rod and projectingfrom the latter toward the lay, and means on the lay for engagement withand normally spaced from the abutments of the daggers, the daggers whenengaging the bunters causing bending of the adjacent parts of the rodbetween the bearings and causing said abutments to engage said means toprevent further bending of the rod and arresting motion of the lay byforces transmitted from the lay through said means to the daggers andbunters along lines of force lying above said protector rod.

6. In protector mechanism for a loom having a lay and a breast beamprovided with a series of lay stopping bunters spaced therealong, aprotector rod extending along and rotatable on the lay, a series ofbearings on the lay for the rod and staggered with respect to thebunters relatively to the length of the lay and breast beam, daggers onthe protector rod, one aligning with and for engagement with each of thebunters, each dagger having an abutment above the rod and projectingfrom the latter toward the lay, and means on the lay for engagement withand normally spaced from the abutments of the daggers, the daggers whenengaging the bunters causing bending of the adjacent parts of the rodbetween the bearings and causing said abutments to engage said means toprevent further bending of the rod and arresting motion of the lay byforces transmitted from the lay through said means to the daggers andhunters, said means forming part of the bearings.

'7. In a protector dagger for a loom having a protector rod and a hunterand a lay provided with a force transmitting element secured thereto,said dagger having a bore to surround the rod, clamp means to hold thedagger on the rod, a hunter engaging portion at one end thereof on oneside of the bore, and means on the other end thereof on the oppositeside of the bore to engage the force transmitting element above thebore.

8. In a protector dagger for a loom having a protector rod and a hunterand a lay provided with a force transmitting element secured thereto,said dagger having a bore between the ends thereof to receive the rod,clamp means to hold the dagger on the rod, a hunter engaging portion atone end thereof on one side of the bore, and means on the other endthereof on the opposite side of the bore to engage the forcetransmitting element at a point so located that a line joining the pointand said hunter engaging portion passes to one side of said bore.

9. In a protector dagger for a loom having a protector rod and a hunterand a lay provided with a force transmitting element secured thereto,said dagger having a bore between the ends thereof to receive the rod,clamp means to hold the dagger on the rod, a hunter engaging portion atone end thereof on one side of the bore, and means on the other endthereof on the opposite side of the bore to engage the forcetransmitting element at a point so located that a line joining the pointand said hunter engaging portion passes above said bore.

10. In a protector dagger for a loom havin a lay provided with aprotector rod and a force transmitting element, the loom having also alay stopping hunter, said dagger having a forward finger to engage thehunter and having an enlarged rear end in the lower part of which is abore between the ends of the dagger to receive the protector rod, saidenlarged end having means to clamp the dagger on the rod and having alsoa portion above the bore to engage the force transmitting element.

11, In a loom protector mechanism, a protec tor rod having a circularcross-section, a dagger on the rod, a bolt in the dagger extendingtransversely of the rod and having a concave recess through which therod passes, and means to hold the bolt fixed With respect to the daggerwith the concave part of the bolt in tight holding relation with the rodto prevent turning of the dagger relatively to the rod.

12. In loom protector mechanism, a protector dagger, a cylindricalprotector rod extending therethrough, a bolt in the dagger at one sideof and disposed transversely of the rod, said bolt having a concaverecess through which the rod extends, and means to move the boltrelatively to the dagger and rod to draw the concave part of the bolt intight holding relation with the rod, the rod and concave part of the rodcooperating to force the bolt into tight holding relation with thedagger to prevent turning of the dagger on the rod.

13. In loom protector mechanism, a cylindrical protector rod, a daggerthrough which the rod extends capable of assuming a plurality of angularpositions on the rod, a bolt in the dagger disposed transversely of therod and having a concave recess in one side thereof through which therod passes, and means to hold the concave part of the bolt in tightholding relation with the rod in any one of said angular positions toprevent turning of the dagger on the rod.

14. In loom protector mechanism, a protector dagger, a protector rodhaving a curved exterior surface passing through the dagger, a member inthe dagger having an inclined surface to engage said curved surface ofthe rod, and means to hold the member fixed with respect to the daggerwith the inclined surface forced against th curved surface in tightholding relation therewith to prevent turning of the dagger on the rod.

OSCAR V. PAYNE. ELLIOT A. SANTON.

